Conor Oberst, Live In Concert — npr.org

Far removed from his days as a white-knuckled teenage prodigy in Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst has settled into his 30s as a wise and wizened elder statesman. He's come to channel his youthful intensity into real showmanship, especially onstage, while continuing to mine powerful emotions and a sort of fearless poignancy in his songwriting. Oberst has worked with many bands since Bright Eyes, including Desaparecidos and Monsters of Folk, but his latest record, the very fine Upside Down Mountain, is a solo album that finds him pairing inward-looking observations with outward-facing arrangements that project genuine soul and panache.

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